Plastic Pollution On The Marine Environment

The problem with plastic ending up in the ocean is that marine life is being harmed by the presence of it. A study done on the harbor seals in the Netherlands found that more than 12% had plastic in the digestive system (California Coastal Commission). The list of affected species indicates that marine debris is affecting a significant number of species. It affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species, and 43% of all marine mammal species (Save our shores). The problem is underestimated because the marine life that ingests plastic or dies from entanglement often goes undiscovered due to the vastness of the ocean, as they either sink or are eaten by predators before they are discovered (Plastic Debris). The potential harm from ingestion of plastics is not restricted to seabirds. Plastic bags drifting on ocean currents resemble the prey of turtles. There is evidence that their survival is being hindered by plastic debris with young sea turtles being vulnerable (Ocean pollution). Over the past 20 years polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have polluted marine food webs at an increasing rate, and are prevalent in seabirds. Though their adverse effects may not always be apparent, PCBs lead to reproductive disorders, increase the risk of disease and alter hormone levels. These chemicals have a detrimental effect on marine organisms even at very low levels and plastic pellets could be a route for PCBs into marine food

Is plastic really that harmless innovation that saves us time and energy without any repercussions? “80% of plastic waste in the ocean originates on land, and recycling rates are poor, with just 9% of plastic in the U.S. recycled, according to the EPA.” - Kieron Marks. Massive amounts of our plastic begin on land and appear in the ocean. The majority of plastic that is in the ocean is in a microscopic form which makes the plastic extremely difficult to find let alone clean up. This affects not only the ocean life by killing 1 million sea creatures a year, but it also has effects on the fishing and the shipping industry, along with tourism. Furthermore, the pollution causes 13 billion dollars in damage to the marine environment every year. This

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

Over the few years, humans have discarded millions of tons of garbage into the oceans. Ever wonder where the cup you threw out this morning will end up? Or the plastic spoon you used for lunch? How about the cap of a water bottle? The calamitous plastic ends up in the water, taking thousands of years to decompose. The consumption of plastic by the marine life is perilous and the leading cause of death for life on shore.

From the polar regions to the equator, these microplastics are everywhere (Avio, 2017). While we know there are tons of plastic in the ocean, it is difficult for researchers to give an exact amount. However, after twenty-four expeditions, a team of researchers in 2014 estimated that there are at least 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing 268,940 tons floating in the ocean (Eriksen, 2014). They estimate that the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans contain 55.6% of the particles found in the oceans (Eriksen, 2014). These researchers have helped give emphasis and proof as to why the worlds plastic consumption needs to be dealt with, either by banning non-biodegradable plastic all together, or by providing people all around the world with an easier way to recycle plastic.

One of the issues that is currently harming the ocean is the presence of pollution. Studies have shown that over the past thirty years, people have increased their use of plastics and synthetic materials and recently it has become even more abundant (Laist). The amount of plastic debris that has entered the ocean is partially due to people 's inability to properly dispose of plastic and waste. This has immeasurable effects on the physical ecosystem, as well as the creatures who inhabit it. While plastic is very buoyant, it takes a very long time to degrade, and it is usually eaten by

It is not just marine animals, from planktons to whales, which ingest microplastics. It can end up in humans when they eat seafood.

Ocean pollution has been a difficult thing to measure and for the public to be concerned about. Most of the concern has only ever been on the shore level where people can physically see pollution collecting. There is a difficult to get people interested and a problem that happens hundreds of miles out where very few people will ever see the plastic collecting on the surface of the ocean. Funding for research to acquire accurate numbers on plastic pollution understand how it affects the environment of these marine organisms has probably been delayed because of the lack of interest people have trouble associating why the oceans are important for them. The truth currently there are no actual models to estimate the distribution of plastic the ocean, these models use data from surface

The overuse of plastics in today's society has become major environmental issue for our oceans. Plastic pollution is the dumping, littering, or disposing of any type of man-made plastic that has been produced and has ended up in our ocean and has not been recycled.

Because persistent organic pollutants in the marine environment attach to the surface of plastic debris, floating plastics in the oceans have been found to accumulate pollutants and transport them through ocean currents.10 Floating and migrating plastic debris has also been found to transport invasive marine species.11 Increasingly, research shows that marine life that ingests plastics coated with pollutants can absorb these pollutants their bodies.

With the combination of polymers that don’t biodegrade and mass overproduction, companies are harming the environment in severe ways. Plastic, a material seen everywhere, is a polymer made from oil. It is mass produced to make everything from shampoo bottles to automobiles and does not biodegrade. When it is eventually thrown out, the waste usually finds it way into the ocean, where it is either buried under sediment or eaten by marine life (Weisman 287-295). Creating a material that will ultimately kill marine life will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the

It was interesting to note when analyzing microplastic abundance that only microplastic fibers were found. As the majority of macroplastics found were substances that upon degradation would not be broken down into fibers, but microscopic plastic pieces or nurdles. In several other previous studies where high-levels of microplastic pollution were analyzed in mountain lakes, fibers were not the most abundant microplastics found (Free, 2014). Instead, small plastic fragments made up the majority of microplastics that were found. The reason that these hard microplastics were not found was due to the fact that the majority of the macroplastics that would have degraded into these smaller microscopic plastic fragments were absent or removed from the beaches except for Torrey Pines, whose macroplastic abundance was previously discussed. There was also a variety of differing fiber colors among

In the novel “No Impact Man” by Colin Beavan, Beavan takes a deep look into how people have destroyed the ocean and marine life from all the pollution that we put into the ocean. Pollution in the ocean is a pretty big topic that Beaven covers, but more specifically he focuses on the effects of plastic pollution on the ocean. Approximately 13,000-15,000 pieces of plastic are dumped into the ocean every day worldwide, causing the ocean and marine life to suffer on a daily basis, we need to change this statistic by limiting the use of plastic in our everyday lives (“Plastic Statistics”, 2015). We throw out so much plastic on a daily basis without thinking about what effect it might have on our planet and on us. It is time that we are aware that our constant plastic use has a negative effect on marine life, and it is time that we change our bad plastic habit.

Each and every day, we are surrounded by plastic. Plastic is found in our disposable pens, utensils, water bottles and so much more. To be exact, 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year. To humans, the abundance of reliance on plastic is no catastrophe for it is harmless. However, for marine life, plastic can be fatal because they mistakenly ingest it when 8 million tons swims its way into the ocean each year (Plastic Oceans). For instance, “fish in the North Pacific ingest 12,000- 24,000 tons of plastic each year” (Wabnitz). Twelve thousand tons of plastic should not be afloat in the ocean simply chilling waiting for a fish to indulge itself with; clearly, we have a problem. Fish however are not the only species impacted by plastic, Sea turtles also mistake floating plastic for food. Current research indicates that “fifty percent of sea turtles’ ocean wide have ingested plastic” and the number will continually grow without our intervention (Wabnitz). Large aquatic creatures are not alone in the battle against plastic, small invertebrates are also at risk, “sixty percent of surface plankton net tows conducted in the western North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea also contained buoyant plastic pieces” (Ocean Plastics Pollution). With thousands of oceanic creatures ingesting plastic resulting in traumatic deaths from internal bleeding and puncturing of internal organs, plastic pollution in our oceans clearly is a threat to the ocean’s ecosystem.

Due to their regurgitation ability; most studies have focused on the ingestion of plastic pollution by bird, this does little harm to birds used in the studies. The effects of ingestible plastic on fish have not been studied as thoroughly and no studies have been conducted on filter-feeding organisms, which do not possess a feeding mechanism which would allow them to distinguish between plastic and plankton. Plastic pollution is only getting worse due to increasing population of developing countries. A wide variety of marine species is known to be harmed by plastic debris. This could threaten the survival of certain species, especially since many are sadly endangered by other types of anthropogenic actions.